BIOGRAPHY: John Gaston Aiken born November 29, 1803

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

JOHN G. AIKEN

BIOGRAPHY and GENEALOGY

(1803 -1865)

Tuscaloosa and Baldwin County, Alabama

John Gaston Aiken, lawyer, was born November 29, 1803, in South Carolina, and died November 29, 1865, at Stockton, Baldwin County He was the son of Robert Aiken and Esther (Gaston) Aikin, who lived in South Carolina and later at Tuscaloosa, the former of Scotch and Puritan stock, and a manufacturer of cotton gins. His wife, Esther, was a descendant of Huguenot ancestry.

He received his preparatory education in Tuscaloosa; and graduated at Yale college. He received his legal training at the latter institution and entered upon the practice at the age of twenty-one. In 1832 he was residing in Tuscaloosa; afterward he practiced law in Mobile; and later located at Stockton where he spent the remainder of his life.

John Gaston Aiken had large land holdings, and many slaves. He saw service in the Mexican War. He was a man of fine physique, six feet four inches in height and weighed two hundred forty pounds. He was a Democrat; a Methodist; and a Mason.

In 1833 John G. Aiken after a long residence in this county, was the author of the finest digest of the laws of the State — if we consider Judge Toulmin’s volume as a compilation, which it really is. Mr. Aiken was residing in Tuscaloosa in 1832 when selected by the general assembly to prepare the digest and afterward practiced law in Mobile for some years. ⁱ

In 1836 it was reprinted with a supplement.

In 1865 his home was burned by the federal soldiers. He married: in Mobile, Clarissa Amanda Kennedy, daughter of Joshua Kennedy and Susan (Kitchen) Kennedy, Sr., of that city, one of the largest land owners of Mobile and Baldwin Counties, granddaughter of William Mansfield Kennedy, a native of Scotland, and of royal connections, banished to America because of political conditions, and of Samuel Kitchen and Mary (Smith) Kitchen, the father of German descent, and the mother of Welsh stock. The father of the latter was John Smith, an officer in the Revolutionary War.

Their children were:

1. Alma Aiken, resided at Stockton;
2. Leila Aiken, deceased by 1921
3. Norma Aiken, resided at Stockton;
4. Clara Aiken d. in infancy;
5. Adelaide Augusta Aiken, deceased by 1921;
6. William Gaston Aiken, a physician, graduate of the medical department. University of Alabama, m. Katie May Brooks, of Century, Fla.;
7. John Gaston Aiken, Jr. graduated as captain. New York nautical school, 1882, licensed chief mate, ocean steamer, 1890, chief mate and captain sea vessels 15 years, inventor of various mechanical and nautical machines and instruments, m. Irma Belt, of Baldwin County, and had four children: John Gaston Aiken, Wm. Kennedy Aiken, Clara Alma Aiken, and Evelyn Esther Aikin.

John Gaston Aiken’s, Sr.’s last residence was Stockton, Alabama.

SOURCES

1. History of Alabama and dictionary of Alabama biography, Volume 3 By Thomas McAdory Owen, Marie Bankhead Owen
2. iAlabama, her history, resources, war record, and public men By Willis

Check out genealogy books and novels by Donna R. Causey

WHERE DO I START? Hints and Tips for Beginning Genealogists with On-line resources includes 81 questions to ask your parents and grandparents before it’s too late.